Martinsburg independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1875-1900, 1887-10-01
CHAPTER XVIII.
WAR; RED WAR.

Telling UmslopogaaS to wait, | tumbled
into my clothes and went off with him to Sir
Henry's room where the Zulu repeated his
story word for word 1t was sight to watch
Curtis face as he heard it.
"Great heavens" he said; "here have
been snoring away while Nyleptha was nearly
murdered-and all through me, too. What
fend that Sorais must be! 1t would have
served her well II Umslopogaas had cut her
down in the act"
"Ay," said the Zulu. "Fear not; I should
have slain her ere she struck; was but watt
ing the moment"
said nothing; but could not help think.
ing that many thousand doomed lives
would have been saved if be had melted out
to Sorais the fate she meant for her sister.
And, as the issue proved, was right.
After he had told his tale Umslopogaas
went off unconcernedly to get his morning
meal, and Sir Henry and l fell to talking.
At first he was very bitter against Good,
who, he said, was no longer to hc trusted,
having designc,.ly allowed Sorais to escape
by some secret stair when it was his duty to
have handed her over to justice. Indeed he
spoke in the most unmeasured terms on the
matter. | let him run on while, rejecting
to myself how easy we find it to be hard ON
the weaknesses of others, and how tender we
are to our own.
Really, my dear fellow" said at length,
zone would never think, to hear you talk,
that you were the man who had an interview
with this same lady yesterday and found it
rather difficult to resist her destinations, not
withstanding your ties to one of the loveliest
and most loving women in the whole world
Now suppose that it was Nyleptha who had
ri oil tSN, ,,VrJa ha6
her, and she had pleaded with you, would you
have been SO very eager to hand her over to
an open shame and to death by fire9 Just
look at the matter through Goods eye glass
for a minute before you denounce an old
friend as a scoundrel."
He listened to this jobation submissively,
and then frankly acknowledged that he had
spoken harshly. 1t is one of the best points
in Sir Henry's character that he Is always
ready to admit 1t when he is in the wrong
But, though I spoke up thus for Good, /
was not blind to the fact, however natural his
behavior might be, it was obvious that he was
being involved in very awkward and dis
graceful complication. A foul and wicked
murder had been attempted, and he had let
the murderess escape, and thereby, among
other things, allowed her to gain a complete
ascendancy over himself. In fact he was in
q fair way to become her tool-and no more
dreadful fate can befall a man than to be-
come the tool of an interruptions woman,
or indeed of any woman. There is but one
end to it: when he is tq oxen, or has served
her purpose, he is throws away-turned out
on the world to hunt for his lost self respect
While was bordering thus and wondering
what was to be done-for the whole subject
was thorny one-I suddenly heard a great
f. - i ..As.-
guished the voices of Umslopogaas and AL
phonse, the former cursing furiously and the
latter yelling in terror.
Hurrying out to see what was the matter, /
was met by ludicrous sight. The little
Frenchman was running up the courtyard at
an extraordinary speed, and after him sped
Umslopogaas like a great greyhound. Just as
came out he caught him, and lifting him
right off his legs, carried him some PAGES to a
beautiful but very dense Towering shrub
which bore flower not unlike the gardenia,
but was covered with short thorns. Next,
despite his bowls and struggles, he with one
mighty thrust plunged poor Alphonse head
first into the bush, so that nothing but the
calves of his legs and his heels remained in
evidence. Then, satisfied with what he had
done, the Zulu folded his arms and stood
grimly contemplating the Frenchmans kicks,
and listening to his yells, which were awful.
1What art thou doingl" said, running up
SWouldst thou kill the man? Pull him out of
the bushl"
With savage grunt he obeyed, seizing the
wretched Alphonse by the ankle, and with a
jerk that must have nearly dislocated it, tear
ing him out of the heart of the shrub. Never
did l see such sight as he presented, his
clothes half torn off his back, and bleeding as
he was in every direction from the sharp
thorns. There he lay, and yelled and rolled,
and there was no getting anything out of
him.
At last however, he got up, and ensconcing
himself behind me, cursed old Umslopogaas
by every saint in the calendar, vowing by the
blood of his heroic grandfather that he would
poison him and shave his revenge"
At last got the truth Of the matter. 1t
appeared that Alphonse habitually cooked
Umslopogaas' porridge, which the latter ate
for breakfast in the corner Of the court yard,
Just as he would have done at home in Zulu
land, from gourd, and with a wooden
spoon. Now Umslopogaas had, like many
Zulus, great horror of fish, which he con-
sidered species of water snake; so Alphonse,
who was as fond Of playing tricks as a mon
key, and who was also a consummate cook,
determined to make him eat some. Accord
ingly he grated up white fish very finely
and mixed il with the Zulu's porridge, who
swallowed it nearly all down in ignorance of
what he was eating. But unfortunately for
Alphonse he could not restrain his JOY at this
sight and came capering and peeping round,
till at last Umslopogaas, who was clever in
his way, suspected something, and after a
careful examination OF the remains Of his
porridge, discov cred "the buffalo heifer's"
trick, and in revenge served him as have
said Indeed, the little man was fortunate
not to get a broken neck for his pains; for,
as one would have thought, he might have
learned from the episode of his display OF
axmanship that le monsieur noir was an i'll
person to play practical jokes on.
This incident was unimportant enough in
itself but l narrate it because it led to serious